Living with Diabetes and Lapband

I'm getting closer.

I am going to turn in my annotated bibliography sometime later in the day. It's due at noon tomorrow. We've got a final in that class and one more discussion to do.

I just checked through the other documents (and the bibliography again), and I'm pretty happy with all of them. I keep fixing formatting errors and tweaking things. I'm going to print out everything tomorrow afternoon for the presentation on Tuesday.

I get a final tomorrow which is answer 4 questions out of 8. However, I just got an extra credit question from the professor that is freaking me out. I'm afraid the rest of her questions will be like the extra credit. I keep reminding myself to take deep breaths.

It will be okay, and I'll be done soon. Hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday. Though the final isn't due until the 8th and neither is the discussion.

First, I love comments! As long as you aren't advertising a poker or porn site -- I have to delete those.

Jan makes some great comments. Yes, after the first week, I haven't found symlin to be that great of a wonder drug either. I'm definately using less insulin, but I am not getting the weight loss, etc. I did before, and my calorie count is much lower.

I'm hoping that some of the problem is that my activity level has been the lowest it's been this summer, due to the amount of writing I've been doing. I've honestly spent hours at the computer on my projects.

I'll also admit that for the past almost 3 years, diabetes management has been a full time, on my mind, no matter what I am doing, job. It is a drag. BUT, my energy level is higher, I'm happier, etc.

The symlin syringes and vial are major drags. I am keeping an eye out for the promised pen. FYI: On the way out of the elevator from my endo's appointment I ran into the Amalyn rep, and complained about the vial for us. He said that they really didn't expect approval when they got it, which is why they came out with the vial. They don't know when a pen will be coming out. I'm going to bug the 1-800 number about it too. 1-800-349-8919 for those to lazy to go to the Symlin site to look it up :-)

I honestly don't know how next school year is going to go, don't know what I'm teaching yet, or where, and I'm trying hard not to think about it. I've got enough on my mind with the master's.

One of the things the CDE and I decided to give as a try with the Symlin, is to start taking it about 30 minutes before meals. I'm already finding that my post prandial bloodsugars are better. I was hitting 180 2 hours after a meal and am now down to around 130 which is much better. I was finding I was correcting about as much insulin as I was saving from the meal, which wasn't helping.

I'm still focusing on my papers which is why I am not blogging much. I'm taking two classes, and I have the annotated bibliography done for the one class. It's ready to turn in. I have the research paper and the summary written for the other class, I just keep picking a different section of the paper and making sure it meets the appropriate critiria.

I got a letter today from UNT about graduation, and I'm glad I'm taking a pass on it. You aren't allowed to bring anything like a handbag with you so I can't take emergency supplies. Yeah, I can find a dress with pockets and make Rich carry the bag, but that's a pain. So it's a good excuse.

And while the freebies are great -- and take care of the copay --

the best thing is the result. For YEARS my primary care physician's (and allergist) struggled with my blood pressure. Never could get it low enough.

And for a couple of years my primary care physician strugged at getting my lipids lowered.

It's taken only about 6 months and my endo has everything where it should be. This is actually the second good lab report I've had -- the first one, I had an A1C of 6.2.

And don't get me wrong, I've had good primary care physicians -- but diabetes is a bit more complicated and it has taken loads of work to get the right mix of medication and blood sugar control to get it fixed.

Oh, and other good news, I've lost 24 pounds since I've started seeing him too.

FYI: I think every diabetic should see an endocronologist. Lots of reasons. First, they know the state of the art in diabetes care. Second, they deal with a lot of patients, you won't be unique. But the last and most important reason is "free stuff".

I left my endo's office with a new Freestyle meter. I don't really need another one, I carry one and keep one on my desk. I'll replace the oldest of the two with this new one, and then stash the new one somewhere, probably my classroom.

I've paid for 1 meter, and got the money back from that one too.

Anyway, numbers are good. A1C of 6.5 -- my best was 6.2. Fasting blood sugar was 105, kidneys are good, cholesterol 121, triglycerides 78, HDL 45, LDL is 60.

I'm going to start taking the Symlin a bit before meals and see if it helps my blood sugar. It is still higher than I like postprandial.

Cingular posted an update on the Palm website for the Treo. I've got 6 meg of memory back, which I am slowly using it up.

The best news is that I can hook up my notebook via bluetooth and get internet access. It's faster than dialup, slower than broadband, and might get me through problems I'm anticipating for next year.

I'm actually relying on the Treo much more than I did before.

My next debate -- is do I get a bluetooth headset. I'm thinking not. I don't talk on the phone that much, and I'll lose the headset in my hair. It's bad enough to see someone walking around talking to themselves and seeing a cord, but it makes it really weird when you don't see any visible means.

I'm also thinking about a keyboard. I actually did buy one, but it was a universal one, and wasn't fun to use with the Treo. The Treo 600 keyboard spoiled me, because it has keys for specific Treo functions.

New photos from the Monroe trial are on my website.

http://tinyurl.com/dpwee

Aren't you glad I didn't load all 74?

Spent about 20 minutes in the pool this evening and ever since, the screen keeps blinking at me. I think the up button is somehow stuck.

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This is why I keep this blog. As soon as I took a deep breath and typed the above, I remember the first thing Animas always had me do when my IR1000 acted up. They had me take the battery out so it would reboot.

I've done that, and it seems better.

I have enough to deal with.

I've been spending all of my writing energy on my final project. It's on WiMAX and is currently pretty close to 10 pages. I would like to have a couple more paragraphs and take it to 11 pages.

I also need to do a Presentation Summary of it once it is finished. That has to be no more than two pages.

I am starting to feel closer to the end of the tunnel. We get our final exam questions on Monday from my other class.

Had to get a blood draw this morning. My hand aches every since. The gal getting the blood couldn't find my veins. She finally did the back of my hand. It feels like it should be black and blue.

Also picked up another month's supply of Symlin while as I at the same building. I'm not 100% happy with it right now, I had the initial 10 pound weight loss, but am now at a slow crawl when it comes to losing weight, and I swear, I am not eating much and doing lots of exercise.

So I'm whining.

Diabetes Mine: All About Sharps Disposal

I'm glad the issue hasn't "bitten" her as hard as it has me.

It's getting to be a daily issue for me again, since the Symlin is an injectable.

I'm also worried about it for next school year. Last year, in another state, a teacher lost his job because a student stepped on a sharp that he had dropped on the floor.

I've kept a sharps container in my room since I was diagnosed, keep a close eye on my stuff, and have warned students on the first day and a few times after, that my desk is off limits due to the medical equipment I have to keep.

I've also told the Powers that Be, because of the medical equipment issue, I can't float, though they keep assuring me that it isn't proper to ask someone with as many years in the district and building to float. Floating means you go from room to room.